Lessons in Secret-Keeping
by Subtlynice
Summary: A series of oneshots which take place during and after The Indigo Spell. Full (spoilery) summary inside. Warning: massive Indigo Spell spoilers.
1. Driving Lessons

**A/N:** Since I know not everyone will have read _The Indigo Spell_ yet, I've decided to mark _Fallout_ as complete and start a new series for my _Indigo Spell_-era oneshots (although I do still have a few TGL-era fics left to write and when they're complete I'll add them to _Fallout_). I stole the title _Lessons in Secret-Keeping_ from one of my _Fallout_ oneshots – it seemed apt, given Sydney and Adrian's current relationship status.

**Prompt:** I was asked forever ago to write Sydney and Adrian on a road trip as part of my _Fallout_ series… so here's my take on their journey back from the Getty Villa.

* * *

**Driving Lessons**

It was dark by the time we left the beach hand-in-hand and made our way reluctantly back to Adrian's car. It was even darker by the time we actually left Malibu – first, Adrian had insisted on pressing me up against the car and kissing me until I was breathless. When he'd pulled away long enough for me to start thinking clearly, I'd panicked over the thought of my jeans scraping against the paint and insisted on a thorough examination of the possible damage before we left. There was no damage, thank goodness. Adrian seemed to think my concern over his car was hilarious, but after his suggestion that we take off any potentially-damaging clothes and climb on top of the hood to check for more scratches was met with a withering glare, he'd hastily changed the subject to the Etruscan art we'd seen in the museum.

"–And the Etruscans were the real geniuses behind pretty much every masterpiece of Roman architecture," I raved. "You should see some of the late Etruscan temples – they weren't nearly as magnificent as the Parthenon in Athens or the Pantheon in Rome but the combination of styles is fascinating –" I broke off as I met his eye. He was driving, but he'd been sneaking side glances my way since we left the museum. "What?" I asked, grinning. Neither of us could seem to _stop_ grinning today. Or touching. Or kissing.

Adrian's own grin widened and his eyes flicked lazily up and down. "Don't mind me. Just admiring the view."

"Eyes front, soldier." I gestured to the road ahead of us. "If you crash the Ivashkinator I'm never kissing you again."

Adrian laughed throatily, sitting up straighter and gripping the wheel like his life depended on it. "Yes, ma'am."

With Adrian focused on the road there was nothing to keep me from watching him. Not that I cared about him noticing anymore. My eyes drank him in, lingering on every inch of him that I could see. He was smirking and I knew that he could see my dreamy expression in his peripheral vision. I had to give him credit where it was due, though; he behaved himself and kept his eyes on the road for an entire two minutes. Then I felt a spark as his hand brushed against mine.

I pulled away reluctantly. "Have you forgotten how to drive stick again?" I asked, amused. I nodded towards the road ahead, where repairs signs warned us to slow down. "You're going to need that hand to change gears soon."

His hand found mine again and I didn't resist as he curled his whole palm over the back of my hand, our fingers entwined.

"I think what I need is some more lessons," he teased. He moved both our hands to the gear stick. I relaxed my hand under his as he went through the motions of changing gears, but then I pulled away again.

"No more of that," I protested. "This poor car's been through enough in the last few weeks. Do you want it to stall now too?"

Adrian glanced over at me slyly. "If you're so worried about it stalling, why don't you take over from me?"

I hesitated. Driving Adrian's car was a temptation I usually wouldn't be able to refuse, and he knew it. But right now, I didn't want to lose myself in the Mustang's quick, smooth steering and the road rushing by beneath us. I just wanted to watch him drive and bask in the _rightness_ of today some more.

I shook my head. "I don't think it's the best idea for us to attempt to swap seats in the middle of these road works."

"Not what I meant," he said. He reached over and lifted my palm to his lips. His eyes flitted over to mine again as he kissed it gently, and then kissed the back of my hand. Then he brought my hand back down to the gear stick and left it there.

"Adrian, what –" I began, but he cut me off with a quick, "Third gear, now."

I was still confused, but my hand moved instinctively, switching to third gear while he kept his foot down on the clutch. When I realised what he'd done, I nudged him on the shoulder – not hard enough to distract him from the road, but enough to let him know how stupid I thought that idea had been.

"Adrian!" I protested, my mouth agape. "You could've stalled! You could have crashed us!"

He shook his head. "Not possible. We're the perfect team. And my secret girlfriend is a badass witch who'd probably burn me to a cinder if I crashed our baby. No way I'd risk that."

I blushed. _Girlfriend_. God, after everything else that had happened between us, it felt ridiculous to get caught up in sentimentality, but the way he said it with such tenderness... it made me want to ask him to stop the car so I could kiss him some more.

"Your girlfriend would like all three of us to make it back home in one piece," I said. "And as you said, you don't want to mess with her." I tried to sound stern, but my voice softened on the word 'girlfriend' too and my hand stayed on the gear stick.

Adrian threw me another breathtakingly happy grin. "Noted. Fourth gear."

I groaned, but again, my reaction was instinctive and the car made the transition easily. Adrian was right, of course. We were a perfect team and we always had been. And as Adrian and I fell into an easy rhythm, I realised that it didn't matter that I wasn't the same girl I'd been a year ago; that Sydney Sage had never been this happy. She'd never felt this complete. Jill was right; I definitely still had some control issues to work through. But I didn't need to be in control all of the time and now was one of those times when it felt great to let someone else make the decisions and take the wheel. _Literally_.

When we eventually pulled up to the school and I applied the hand break for him, I almost felt like asking if we could just both go back to his apartment. I had all my belongings with me and there was nothing waiting for me at Amberwood, after all. Only Jill and our need for secrecy stopped me.

"Here," I said, reaching into my handbag and pulling out the quartz crystal I had taken to carrying everywhere with me since the fire. I pressed it into his palm. One summoning spell later, the callistana was scurrying up and down his arm, spiky tail wagging ferociously. "It's the weekend," I reminded him. "Time for you to step up and perform your fatherly duties."

"Right," Adrian said with a smirk. "Good thing Hopper and I both have a sweet tooth." He let the little demon climb up to his shoulder and then prised it from his shirt and set it down slightly gingerly on the dashboard. It curled up over the air conditioning outlet, gazing adoringly up at the both of us with its wide round eyes.

I looked away from the dragon and took Adrian's hand. "Thank you for today," I said. "It was…" I didn't know how to describe it. _Perfect_ seemed like such an understatement.

He leaned forward to kiss me goodbye. _No_, I reminded myself. _Not goodbye. Just goodnight._ The thought made me giddy, and I curled my arms around his neck, grinning into the kiss.

"I'll call you first thing tomorrow morning," he promised when we broke apart. "Sweet dreams, Sage."

I took my bags from the backseat and leaned in for one more kiss. Sweet dreams? Oh, I knew they would be.

* * *

**A/N:** As with _Fallout_, feel free to suggest prompts!


	2. How to Train Your Callistana

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/sent prompt requests so far! You can also request fics on my tumblr (callistana).

**Prompt:** Anything involving Hopper the baby dragon

* * *

**How to Train Your Callistana**

Hopper was screeching again.

Adrian groaned as he rolled out of bed, one hand clutching his pounding head. The little monster had woken him like this three days in a row now. Did that damn thing _never_ stop eating?

"I'm up," he yelled – not that it stopped the racket. He heard the sound of tiny claws scraping at the bottom of his door. _There goes the security deposit._

He half wished that he could dump the tiny creature on Sydney for a few days, or at least get her to come over and turn it back into crystal, but with Zoe in Palm Springs now and shadowing Sydney 24-7, there was no way it could work. Remembering his last encounter with Zoe just made him feel worse. In so many ways, the kid was like a miniature Sage – the Sage he'd first met, haughty and proper and businesslike – but he also caught the way she stayed close to Sydney's side and could barely meet his eyes when she spoke to him. Sydney had never really been afraid of him like that, but it reminded him painfully of her old aversion to vampire magic.

Part of him wished Sydney's little sister would decide being in such close proximity to vampires on a daily basis was too stressful, and leave Palm Springs for good. He felt terrible about it.

Still with one hand pressed to his forehead, he flung open his bedroom door. The callistana abruptly stopped howling. _Weird_. It usually wouldn't shut up until he fed it.

"Wassermatter?" he asked sleepily. "Expecting someone else?"

The dragon blinked up at him noiselessly.

He sighed and scooped the little creature up with one hand. Since Sage's sister had arrived, life had been pretty lonely and he had to admit, he didn't mind the dragon's company. It was a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least talking to Hopper was better than talking to himself.

He staggered into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He'd indulged himself slightly too much last night and was feeling the full effects of it now. Still, the alcohol numbed the spirit and the unbearable longing he felt. Sydney had come to visit him yesterday afternoon with the admittedly lame excuse that she was filing a new report on the spirit experiments and needed an update. He'd given her a few bullshit responses to her bullshit questions and then they'd stared at each other for a while, while her sister hovered in the doorway, as far away from him as possible. Later, they'd exchanged a few texts, but by that time Adrian was too far gone to muster up the spirit to dreamwalk and although it was the only way for them to really be together now, Sydney worried about him using spirit to visit her dreams.

Adrian checked the time on his phone as he helped himself to a breakfast of leftover pie. 12:45pm. Great. At least his prolonged unconsciousness meant that Jill probably hadn't suffered the effects of his hangover.

As he sat down on the overstuffed plaid couch Sydney had more than once wrinkled her nose up at, Hopper crawled onto his foot. He groaned and lifted the callistana, placing it on his plate with the half-eaten pie. Within minutes, the plate was licked clean. Hopper turned his big round eyes to Adrian, making a small gurgling noise.

"No," Adrian said sternly. "No more until dinnertime."

To his relief, the dragon didn't start wailing again. Instead, it scuttled along the edge of the plate and over his forearm. It sniffed him once and then lay down. Adrian sat very still, waiting for the inevitable noise, but it didn't come.

"Good Hopper," he said, surprised. He reached out and stroked one finger lightly over the callistana's back.

The little dragon made a squeaking sound, gazing up at him with big beady eyes. _Great_. What did it want _now_?

Hopper nudged his hand again. He tentatively stroked the dragon once more. Hopper closed his eyes and lay his tiny glass head on Adrian's arm.

_Well. _That was new. He hadn't thought the callistana particularly liked _him_ – it just felt some weird magical attachment to him. But it had stopped wailing as soon as he'd opened the door. And, he remembered with a jolt, it had sat curled up beside him all last night as Adrian had drunk himself into an early stupor.

Maybe it was only a magical bond keeping the little demon loyal to him, but Adrian knew enough about magic to know that compulsion was always stronger when the subject _wanted_ to obey.

He gently stroked the callistana's glass scales, surprised to find them warm to the touch. He wasn't sure how long he sat there for, when a loud ringing jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Sage," he said immediately when he answered it.

"Hello, Mr. Ivashkov," Sydney said. Her voice was warm but her cool words warned that her sister was nearby. "I just wanted to let you know that we'll be taking the princess to her feeder at around 4 o'clock today, if you wish to join us."

"Of course," he said, clutching the phone close to his ear. "I'll be there, Sage." He paused, before adding, quieter, "_I love you. Just in case I don't get the chance to tell you tonight, I love you_."

"I do too," Sydney said, and her cool, professional demeanour cracked slightly over the words. He heard her take a slow, deep breath and by the time she spoke again, her voice was sharp and unfeeling. "Very well, Mr. Ivashkov. We'll see you there in a few hours."

The line went dead before Adrian could say goodbye.

_I do too._ Just a few weeks ago, those words would have made his heart soar. Now they just made the distance between them worse.

Hopper pressed his claws harmlessly into Adrian's skin and whined quietly.

"I know, buddy," Adrian said as the callistana curled up, tucking its head into the crook of his elbow. He leaned back and stared at his phone, the pit of longing in his gut worse than ever. "I miss her too."


	3. Preliminary Research Skills

**A/N:** No prompt for this one! I'll try to fill some of your prompts soon. :)

* * *

**Preliminary Research Skills**

The sky was just beginning to darken as I arrived at Adrian's apartment. It had taken a while to convince Zoe that she would be perfectly safe without my presence for a few hours. And I only now understood Adrian's frustration with the bus services in Palm Springs. I would have to buy a replacement for Latte, and _soon_. I adjusted the bag on my shoulder and checked my watch. We only had a little under an hour before we were due to meet Ms. Terwilliger's coven.

Nervousness laced with fear curdled in my stomach at the thought of it. I, Sydney Katherine Sage, would be meeting a coven of witches in less than an hour. And I would be accompanied by a vampire. Despite everything, despite how much I'd come to rely on magic for my own protection, and how much my attitude towards vampires and witches had changed, the thought of walking willingly into a room of magic users still shook me.

Luckily, I wouldn't be alone. Ms. Terwilliger had invited Adrian along, probably in an attempt to put me more at ease with the idea. And it did relax me slightly, knowing that he would be by my side all night. I might have been safer if I'd invited Eddie to come with us, but I wasn't sure how he would respond to the idea of human magic-users and I'd already dragged him into my business with Marcus. I didn't want to distract him from his role as Jill's guardian any more than necessary.

Adrian greeted me with a quick kiss when he opened the door. It made me wish more than anything that this was a casual visit. Perhaps there would be time for more kisses later if we got back before Amberwood's curfew…

"Can I check my emails before we go?" I asked him as I set my bag down on the sofa. The internet had been running ridiculously slowly when I left Amberwood – it was usually slow in the early evening, when most students had retired to their dorm rooms.

Adrian nodded and gestured to his laptop, which sat on a small desk in the corner of the room; it was already switched on, and I was proud to see that he appeared to be halfway through writing an assignment on artistic composition. I didn't know much about modern art, but from what I could tell, it was a stellar essay.

I scrolled through my emails while Adrian doubled back to his bedroom for a jacket. No new messages of any importance. Stanton had sent me an appreciative message for delivering my weekly report to her ahead of schedule, as always. A few others were obviously chain messages from Angeline and I deleted them straight away. Only the last message gave me pause – it was a request from Amazon to rate the latest book I'd purchased. For a moment, I was confused – my recent activities had left little time for reading – but then I remembered the useless self-help book on 'bad boys' that I'd downloaded a few weeks ago. I logged into Amazon and left a quick 1-star review to let them know exactly how unhelpful I thought it had been. I was about to close the browser when I felt warm breath stir the hair at my neck and two steady hands settled on my shoulders.

_Mmm_. I closed my eyes, luxuriating in the feeling of those hands. He rubbed at my shoulders for a while, loosening the tension there, before his fingers slid lower, trailing sparks up and down my arms.

"Ready to go?" Adrian asked as his hands reached my shoulders once more. Then he stilled. "Sage? What's this?"

Oh no. My eyes snapped open. The Amazon page was still open, pointer resting on the close button. I tried to click away from the page, but Adrian's hands had distracted me and my fingers had slipped from the mouse in my hand. Adrian grabbed the mouse as I made a weak attempt to slam the laptop shut.

With one hand now resting on the laptop and his other curled around mine on the mouse, Adrian leaned in to read over my shoulder.

"_Bad Boys and the Women Who Love Them_," he read aloud. He paused and when he spoke again, his voice was full of mirth. "Something tells me this isn't on the required reading list for Amberwood."

I pulled my hand out from under his and crossed my arms, trying to look unruffled. "It's not," I said haughtily. "Not that it's any of your business."

"My girlfriend's looking up relationship advice on my computer. I'd say that qualifies as my business."

I felt my cheeks reddening. "I wasn't looking up anything. I just got an email from Amazon asking me to share my opinion –"

"Does Amazon often ask you to share your opinion on bad boys?" Adrian asked teasingly.

I pursed my lips, refusing to give him the satisfaction of an answer. I _had_ read an unusual number of teen help books recently.

Adrian laughed as if my silence had delighted him. He scrolled down the page. "So? Are you going to leave a review?"

"I already did," I said tersely. I pointed to the 1 star I'd given it.

"Ouch," Adrian said. How had I ever found that self-satisfied smirk of his charming? Right now it was _infuriating_.

"It wasn't very helpful," I admitted.

Adrian's grin widened. "That's right. Probably just a long list of stereotypes. You should have known better, Sage. Guys like me are one of a kind. It's impossible to fit Adrian Ivashkov into a box."

"Who said it had anything to do with you?" I huffed.

He raised an eyebrow. His face was disconcertingly close to mine now. "Do you have another boyfriend I don't know about?"

I shrugged. "Well, Brayden was my first boyfriend. I read a lot of books when I started dating him for… you know… research purposes." Technically it was true, even though I'd brought this particular book long after my break-up with Brayden.

Adrian smirked. "I'd hardly class Brandon as a bad boy, Sage."

I shrugged again, hoping the gesture seemed casual. "I like to be thorough."

His eyes darkened. "I'll give you that."

I didn't understand his reaction until I realised how my thoroughness could be interpreted, given the nature of our discussion. And suddenly the air between us felt thick and suffocating. He leaned closer, his gaze drifting down to my lips. I closed my eyes and a fraction of a second later his mouth was pressed against mine. I forgot my embarrassment. I forgot everything except the taste of his lips and the smell of his skin. He lifted me to my feet so that he could press me back against the desk. My arms curled around him and my hands wove into his hair, tugging shamelessly. He groaned into my mouth and the sound sent shivers down my spine. _God, I'd missed this._

Too soon, his mouth left mine. His hands traced circles on my hips as he kissed my cheek and then my jaw and then his mouth was at my ear and his fervent whisper sent a trail of fire through my skin. "I never thought that research skills could be a turn-on, but right now I'm struggling to think of anything sexier," he muttered. He kissed the skin beneath my ear and my legs shook.

"We… need to stop," I told him, trying to sound stern. "The coven is expecting us."

"I know." His voice was low and shaky, which didn't help with my control. "Just… give me a minute."

I stayed in his arms for a little while longer before I stepped away to give us both room to breathe.

"Ready?" I asked him. I gave myself a quick once-over. I'd taken such care with my appearance before I left, determined to look smart and sophisticated for this meeting. I knew that I probably looked wild now – my shirt was rumpled and my hair in disarray and my lips felt bruised from his kisses. And yet, I didn't feel afraid anymore. Maybe the rush I felt whenever Adrian kissed me had its own magical properties. All I knew was that right now, I felt powerful and confident enough to take on anything. Even an entire coven of potentially dangerous witches.

Adrian seemed to notice the change in me too. He reached out and curled a hand around mine. "How long do you think this meeting will go on for?" he asked as I shouldered my bag and led us out.

"An hour? Maybe slightly longer." We stepped out into the cool night air and felt my lips curl upward in a smirk. "Of course, the quicker we get this over with, the more time we'll have afterwards."

His hand squeezed mine. "I like the sound of that."

That powerful feeling intensified. I climbed into the passenger side of the mustang and waited until he was behind the wheel before I leaned across and held his gaze with mine. "You know… a lot of my research really was too… _thorough_… for my relationship with Brayden. It's a shame that I didn't get to put it to good use. I have a lot of theories that I'd like to put into practice… with a willing test subject."

Adrian's eyes widened. "Fuck," he muttered. "That's got to be the hottest thing I've ever heard." He leaned forward, but I held him at arms' length.

"Coven first," I reminded him. "But afterwards…"

His eyes burned into mine. "The quicker we get this over with, the more time we'll have afterwards," he repeated.

I smiled. "Exactly."

I barely had time to buckle my seatbelt before Adrian sped away from the curb, tires screeching.


	4. Public Relations 101

**Prompt(s): **'green eyed monster' and Adrian vs. Ian

* * *

**Public Relations 101**

When I woke up on Christmas Eve to find Zoe gone, my first thought was that something terrible must have happened. Zoe rarely woke up before me, and when she did, she always waited for me to be ready before leaving our room to face the 'monsters' outside.

I'd already tried phoning her twice and was just about to gather together the ingredients I'd need for a tracking spell when she called back. I answered within the first two rings.

"Zoe!" I exclaimed. "What's happened? Where are you? Are you okay?"

Zoe giggled. Giggled. "Merry Christmas Eve to you too, sis. I'm at _Marquee's_." _Marquee's_ had become our regular breakfasting place during the holidays. We all usually met there in the morning to go over our plans for the day. "Come meet me?" she pleaded. "There's someone here I know you _really_ want to see."

My heart hammered. "Zoe? What do you mean?"

"You'll see," she said mysteriously. "Just come." And with that, the line went dead.

A dozen possibilities raced through my head, each vying for least-likely-explanation as I hurriedly dressed and drove to the restaurant not too far from where we were staying. Zoe knew about Adrian and for some reason she wasn't mad. Our father had deigned to visit us. Our mother had somehow tracked us down based on the little information we'd given her.

When I entered the restaurant and saw the two people waiting for me, I froze. The reality was worse. _Way_ worse.

"Sydney," Ian said, rising from the table with a shy, slightly awkward smile. "It's really good to see you again."

"What… What is this?" I asked blankly. _Oh, God, was he here for good?_ "You're… you're not supposed to be here."

Zoe started to explain, but Ian cleared his throat. "It's okay, Sydney. I cleared it with Stanton and Jared Sage before I left. They both agreed that I could come." He said my father's name reverently, like he was invoking the name of his God.

"Are you staying for very long?" I asked, trying not to sound too horrified by the idea. Thankfully, he shook his head. "I'm just passing through. I have family nearby, and when I mentioned to Stanton that I was heading in this direction for Christmas, she thought you might appreciate it if I paid you a visit."

I sighed inwardly. _ Of course she did._

I sat down and began to make awkward small talk while Zoe smirked knowingly. I'd forgotten she'd been there to witness our 'date'. She looked up to him now like he was already a brother-in-law to her.

Our awkward conversation was disrupted by the chime of the front door and familiar voices. My heart leapt once again as I turned and took in the group making their way towards us.

Adrian, who had been in deep conversation with Jill, was the first to stop in his tracks. "Ah, good," he said sarcastically, eyes on Ian. "_More_ company."

Ian had gone very white. At first I thought that it was because of the sudden presence of two vampires and three dhampirs, but then he stood and pointed accusingly at Adrian.

"I remember you," he said shakily, not bothering to disguise the distaste in his voice. "You forced Sydney to dance with you. At the vampire wedding."

Angeline, Eddie and Neil looked shocked at this. I didn't dare glance at Zoe, for fear of what I might see in her expression.

Adrian crossed his arms, his green eyes gleaming. "I did no such thing. Sage does what she wants. I don't think there's a single person on the planet who could force her to do anything she doesn't want to do."

_Not helpful_. I glared up at him, but he was still eyeing Ian coldly.

Ian glanced back at me. "You've been working with this guy all along?" He seemed bizarrely hurt by this. I suppose, given that he had no idea how much of our friendship was based on lies, this was a shock to him.

"I am on slightly more familiar terms with Mr Ivashkov than I let on during the wedding reception," I admitted. Behind Ian, Adrian tried and failed to supress a smirk at my wording. _Slightly_. What a ridiculous understatement. "He's part of the reason why I'm assigned here – you understand why I can't elaborate."

At my words, Jill shrunk back slightly and Eddie moved forward to shield her from Ian's view. I felt a rush of affection towards them for understanding me so completely. I knew how much Ian despised vampires. Zoe was family, but I would never entrust Jill's safety with _him_.

Of course, Ian had bent the rules to allow me access to the secrets he was in charge of, but luckily, Adrian's presence here seemed to have stumped him. He nodded vaguely. "Yes, yes, of course." He threw another withering glare towards Adrian. "I understand. I'm not at all surprised that we're keeping tabs on _this one_."

"That's right," Adrian snapped back. "Your creepy organisation has a whole department dedicated to putting up with me and my shenanigans and Sydney's in charge." He grinned. "Don't worry, she's doing a great job. She's _very_ thorough. A quick study, you might say."

Beside him, Angeline and Neil looked even more shocked at his suggestive tone. Luckily, Zoe and Ian didn't seem to have caught on. Still, at the mention of my own words to him, I felt my cheeks go red. _What in the world was he thinking?_

Eddie, taking advantage of the bizarre staring competition Adrian and Ian seemed to be engaged in, drew Jill off to the side. I breathed a sigh of relief as I watched them go.

"Ian is just passing through, Adrian," I said diplomatically, my eyes shooting daggers at him. "Ian, I don't believe you've met Miss Angeline Dawes or Mr Neil Raymond?"

My introductions worked – Adrian and Ian broke their ridiculous staring contest long enough for Ian to stiffly shake first Neil's hand, then Angeline's. If he realised that two of our party had disappeared, he didn't mention it. As he sat down again, I noticed him wipe his hand surreptitiously on his jeans.

Breakfast was a painfully uncomfortable affair. Ian had insisted on sitting next to me in the booth, and Zoe, still star-struck by the older, vaguely attractive alchemist boy, sat on the other side of him, leaving the vampires to sit opposite us. Of course, Adrian just _had_ to sit directly opposite me. I avoided his eyes and silently vowed to ignore him for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, Adrian wasn't about to make that easy for me. I'd barely started on my waffles when I felt the barest brush of his fingers on my knee. I jumped, nearly elbowing Ian in the process.

"Sydney?" Ian looked at me worriedly. His hand clamped down on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I lied shakily, as Adrian's fingers drew circles on my knee. Because of the unseasonably warm weather I was wearing a sensible pencil skirt with tights and I could feel the heat of those fingers as though he was touching my bare skin. I gripped the edge of the table. "I just… thought I saw a spider."

"Really?" Adrian asked airily. "_Marquee's_ has always seemed so clean. But I suppose our first impressions of places are always misleading. People, too. You might think someone's stiff and uptight, but when you really get to know them…" His fingers slipped further up my thigh, playing with the material of my skirt. "You realise that they're anything but."

Ian stared. "Um. Okay."

I thought I might spontaneously combust if I sat there any longer. "Adrian," I said sternly, finally meeting his eyes over the table. "Do you mind stepping outside with me? I'm worried about Eddie and Ji – um, _Jane_. They've been gone a long time."

Ian frowned and started counting the vampires at our table. Adrian's hand mercifully left my skirt and he stood with me. I stormed out of the restaurant and rounded the corner, not bothering to check if he was following. I slipped into an alleyway and checked to make sure we were out of sight before rounding on him.

"What the hell were you playing at in there?" I hissed.

Adrian crossed his arms defensively. "Just making small talk. Is something wrong?"

"_Adrian_."

"Stop saying my name like that. He started it."

"He's an _Alchemist_. Of course he was going to be rude. _You_ know better than to encourage him. And you know you can't say or… _do_ anything around anyone else. Especially Zoe."

He deflated at that. "I know. I just miss you."

I uncrossed my arms, my anger fading. "I miss you too," I told him. "But can you please play nice with Ian when we go back in there? Just for a few hours, then he'll be gone. And I'll figure out a way for us to be alone soon. I promise."

Adrian stepped closer to me. "I just don't like the way he looks at you. Like he thinks he owns you."

I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't. You know that."

He snorted. "Of course I know that. Hell, I'm the one who encouraged you to seduce him in the first place, remember?" He let his hands drop to his sides. "Doesn't make it any easier to watch some way more suitable guy flirt with you."

The raw honesty in his voice undid me. I bridged the distance between us and cupped his cheek with my hand. "I don't _want_ a suitable guy," I told him.

He looked down at me, his eyes impossibly green beneath thick, dark lashes. "What do you want?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me closer.

"This," I whispered against his lips. And then I tugged him down to kiss him for the first time since Zoe had arrived in town. We clutched mindlessly at each other and I happily gave in to the familiar thoughtlessness I experienced whenever he kissed me.

Adrian pulled away first, breathing heavily. I reluctantly untangled my fingers from his hair. "We have to go back inside," I said glumly. "And think of an excuse for Eddie and Jill. I'm sure Ian's already suspicious."

Adrian growled at the mention of his name. I shoved him playfully. "At least pretend to be nice," I warned him.

"Don't want to," Adrian said childishly. "He thinks he has a claim over you. He doesn't even _know_ you. Not like I do." His lips were at my ear and he paused to brush my hair away before nipping lightly at my skin. My eyes fluttered closed and I let out an embarrassing whimper. One week without this had been too long.

"He doesn't know you," Adrian continued in a low, heavy voice. "He knows how clever and organised and sophisticated you are." His lips dipped down to my neck. "But he thinks you're like him. Straight-laced and humourless and brainwashed. He doesn't know how brilliant and powerful you are. Or how beautiful you are when you're unravelled in my arms like this. How passionate you are. My fiery warrior girl."

_Oh, God._ My mind was on fire. Adrian's voice was like silk against my skin and I couldn't for the life of me remember why we needed to stop. I wrapped my fingers in his hair again, tugging him closer.

"He could never do this to you," Adrian whispered against my cheek. "He'd like to. But he'll never know how to leave you breathless and wanting with a single touch. Not like _I _do. Just remember that." He brushed his fingers over the hem of my skirt again before he kissed me lightly on the mouth and stepped back. My hands reached out for him to pull him back, but he slipped away.

"Love the skirt, by the way," he said, smugly. I opened my eyes and glared at him, moving to press my rumpled skirt and blouse flat. How dare he make me want him so badly in a public place while we were just feet away from two completely oblivious alchemists? How could I possibly go back in there now and pretend like nothing had happened between us?

"You're evil," I complained, my voice shaky with suppressed longing.

Adrian laughed. "Spoken like a true alchemist."

I brushed past him and made my way back to the restaurant, preparing to ignore him for the rest of the day. "I'm getting you back for this," I vowed under my breath. "Consider this a warning."

He followed me, raking a hand through his hair, presumably in an attempt to settle it back down into its carefully styled mess. "Oh, Sage," he said in a voice that sent shivers down my spine, "I'm looking forward to it already."


	5. Morning After

**A/N:** I was prompted to write a oneshot based around one of the new teaser quotes for _The Fiery Heart_. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, the quote is bolded!

* * *

**Morning After**

I woke to sunlight trickling in through the broken blinds, casting visible rays of sunshine across the small, messy room. I'd been meaning to get those fixed (waking up to sunlight on my skin always made me feel sick and drowsy for the rest of the day). Today, though, the sun hadn't reached me yet. Someone else was sleeping on my usual side of the bed. Sydney.

**Moroi shied from sunlight, but as I watched the way it illuminated Sydney, I knew without a doubt that humans had been made for the sun.** She looked like a painting; she was too beautiful to be real. Endless miles of sun-kissed skin wrapped invitingly in thrift store cotton sheets. Choppy blonde hair tangled on my pillows. I vividly remembered running my hands through that hair. And over that skin. _All_ of her skin.

God, had last night actually happened? It seemed like a dream. Like one of the many dreams I'd had about Sydney since coming to Palm Springs. Only, in my dreams we made love on satin sheets or secluded beaches or (in one particularly memorable dream) on the hood of the Ivashkinator. Last night, Sydney had come bursting through the door and practically dragged me to the bedroom, and my unmade bed. The setting hadn't exactly been romantic, but she hadn't cared. She'd been passionate and clumsy and starkly, vividly real.

And it was so much better than anything I'd ever felt or imagined before.

I brushed a lock of hair from her cheek, remembering the fire in her eyes. The nervous determination I'd seen there. The things she'd whispered as I kissed her neck. The sounds she'd made when I'd kissed her elsewhere. _God, those sounds_. I'd known that she'd be a firecracker in bed – my Sage was good at everything after all – but I'd underestimated just how amazing it would be. Sage somehow both haunted my dreams and kept me rooted in reality; last night had been both too good to be real and too real to be a dream.

I couldn't remember what time we'd finally gone to sleep. Three? Four? Five? Even after we'd settled down, we'd stayed awake. I'd found it hard to stop touching her. And whispering to her; pouring my heart out, telling her everything I hadn't had the chance to say to her in the last few weeks. And she'd done the same until her eyelids drooped closed and she fell asleep mid-sentence.

I could have spent all morning gazing at her while she slept, but I wasn't in the most comfortable position. My left arm was trapped underneath her head and she'd wrapped one of her long, pale legs around mine during the night. Which made me uncomfortable for entirely different and not altogether unpleasant reasons.

I tried shifting a little further away, but the bed was small and she clung to me stubbornly. That was my Sage: stubborn. I smirked and leaned in to kiss her forehead and her nose and her chin, breathing her in. She smelled of sweat and sleep and summer dust, like the Palm Springs sunshine was actually trapped beneath her skin. I buried my nose deeper into her neck and she let out a sleepy noise halfway between a snore and a coo. Her sandy brown eyelashes fluttered and her nose twitched. God, she was adorable like this. I ran my nose along her collarbone and nipped lightly at her shoulder, careful not to use my fangs.

"Mmphh," she groaned sleepily, peeling her eyes open and stretching like a cat. I watched greedily.

"Hi," she said softly when my eyes finally flickered back up to hers.

"Morning, sunshine," I said. She squirmed away as my breath tickled her bare skin, but her mouth stretched into a huge smile.

"Sunshine?" she asked. Her hand slid up my stomach and along my chest, lighting fires. "What happened to the food nicknames?"

I stilled her hand when she reached my heart and held it there, as if hoping she would reach right through my ribcage and claim what was already hers. "You don't like sunshine? It suits you."

"I like it when you call me Sage." She looked down at our hands, as if admitting to something embarrassing, and I remembered how she'd practically keened with pleasure every time _Sage_ had slipped from my lips as we'd moved together last night.

Fuck. I wanted her _again_. Now.

I rolled her onto her back, planting lazy, sloppy kisses across her collarbones as my hands found her thighs. Sydney still seemed sleepy, but she relaxed beneath me, pulling on my hair with one hand and trailing another down my side.

Her lips had just grazed my ear when a loud scraping noise made us both jump apart. When I realised it had come from the door, I groaned and flopped back onto the bed.

"What was that?" Sydney asked, wide-eyed. She looked fully awake now.

"Our darling love child." I wished I'd remembered to leave food out last night for the little monster, but to be fair my mind had been a bit preoccupied by the gorgeous blonde dragging me to bed.

"Hopper?" She climbed out of bed without another word and I rolled over so that I could watch her. All of her. She'd been self-conscious at first last night, but that had faded fast. Now, as she shrugged into my shirt and opened the door to scoop up Hopper, it was as if all of Sydney's insecurities about her body had vanished overnight. She was practically glowing with confidence. Or maybe that was her aura. I leaned back on the bed and let my mind relax, taking in the healthy yellow-and-purple glow that surrounded her. _God, she was so beautiful_.

She crawled back onto the bed with the callistana perched on her shoulder and I couldn't help but tug her closer, needing to feel her lips on mine. We kissed for a few seconds and then Sydney leaned back.

"We both have morning breath," she said, and made a face.

"I don't care." I leaned in again and she pushed me back, giggling. I'd never heard Sage giggle before. It was beyond cute. It made me want to kiss her some more.

"I need to freshen up," she said. Her grin faded. "What's the time?"

Our eyes both turned to the bedside clock I'd brought when I'd enrolled in art classes. It was half past ten. Not much of a lie-in by my standards, but Sydney's eyes widened and she let out a yelp of alarm as she scrambled off my lap.

"I have to get back to Amberwood," she said breathlessly, wringing her hands. "Zoe thinks I've gone to an academic conference out of town; she was expecting me back early this morning. Oh, god, I know she'll ask about it and haven't even considered what to tell her. What if she wants details? What if she expected me to take notes?"

I leaned forward and took her hands in mine. "Hey," I said gently. "It's okay. I'm sure Jailbait would've called us if your sister was getting suspicious. And you know all there is to know about all kinds of things." An idea came to me and I smirked, trailing my fingers along her arms, then down her waist to her bare thighs. "Tell her it was about those sexy Greek women. The hetaerae."

Sydney smacked my hands and moved away, but her smile was back and she seemed a little calmer. I sighed and leaned back against the headboard, wishing she'd told her sister she'd be gone all weekend.

"Do you have a spare toothbrush?" she asked as she rummaged through her overnight bag.

"Check the bathroom cabinet."

She nodded and then smiled at me as I eyed her long, lithe form in the doorway. "I won't be long. Feed Hopper," she ordered.

"You're bossy in bed," I observed.

"You're the one still in bed," she pointed out.

I flashed her another grin. "Only because that's where you want me to be."

She threw a shirt in my direction and then slipped through the door.

Hopper chose that moment to crawl onto my chest and gurgle plaintively at me, so I took the hint and dressed quickly. I fished out a couple of strawberries and a chocolate cookie for Hopper as I waited for Sydney, feeling increasingly nervous. This wasn't how I'd hoped our first morning together would go. I'd never bothered to hang around after sleeping with a girl in the past, but Sydney deserved morning sex, breakfast in bed, and a day of lazing around watching bad TV and discussing our future together.

When she entered the kitchen a few minutes later wearing a sensible pair of beige slacks and a blue dress shirt that I guess she'd packed for her fake conference, I wrapped my arms around her immediately and breathed her in.

"Stay a while," I tried, knowing that I sounded needy and not caring. "You can tell Zoe that the traffic was bad. Jill will cover for us."

Sydney smiled but shook her head. "If we're going to keep this up, I can't give her any reason to be suspicious of me."

My hands tightened around her waist. "Does that mean that you might have another _conference_ coming up soon?" I asked hopefully.

"Maybe." She grinned teasingly, and then looked down. She fiddled nervously with the buttons on my shirt. "I mean, if you want me to."

I reached down to pull her chin up and press my lips to hers. We were both breathing heavily when I pulled away. "What do you think?" I murmured.

Sydney gave me a shy smile; it surprised me after everything we'd done and been through together. She certainly hadn't been very shy last night. "I just wasn't sure if… I mean… last night was good, wasn't it?" She looked down again, and a blush rose in her cheeks. "Forget it," she mumbled.

"Are you kidding me, Sage? How can you even ask that?" Just remembering last night made me want to drag her back to the bedroom.

She shrugged against my arms. "Well, I thought it was good, but I don't have anything to compare it to."

My right hand snaked around her back and dipped under her shirt. "If you thought last night was just _good_ then I obviously did something wrong."

Sage's eyelids fluttered, then drooped lazily shut as I traced my fingers slowly down her spine. "It wasn't _just_ good," she protested weakly as her hands wrapped around my neck. I bent down to press my lips to her jaw. She still tasted like summer.

"Last night was the best night of my life," I whispered against her skin. "And this morning is probably the best morning of my life. It's killing me to let you walk out that door."

"You've only been conscious for half an hour," she reminded me in a shaky voice.

"Still one of the best half-hours of my life," I countered. "Someday I'll give you a proper morning after. Complete with bad hair and morning breath and awkward shower sex and burnt waffles. I promise." Sage snorted and reached up to tug me into another kiss. I let my hand drift down to her lower back, memorising the warmth and softness of her curves as she opened her mouth against mine, morning breath be damned. I happily let her take the lead, knowing that this was one of the last chances I'd get to kiss her for a while.

"Text me when you get back to Amberwood?" I asked when she drew back and made her way towards the door.

"Of course." She paused, one hand on the doorframe. "Last night was the best night of my life, too, you know," she said matter-of-factly, as if we were discussing the weather.

"And this morning?" I asked, wondering whether she knew how much my sanity had depended on those words.

She smiled sweetly, one foot already out the door. "This morning wasn't so bad, either."

And then she was gone, taking the mid-morning sunshine with her.


	6. Man's Best Friend

**A/N:** I won't reveal the prompt for this one, because it's a spoiler for basically the entire story.

* * *

**Man's Best Friend**

On the last day of his life, I jerked awake to Hopper the callistana trying to burrow his snout in my ear.

I swatted the little creature away without even thinking about the gesture, and instantly regretted it. I had no time to show him any affection though. It was eight o'clock in the morning and I, Sydney Sage, had fallen asleep while trying to pull my first all-nighter. I'd researched relentlessly throughout the last week, taking breaks only when necessary and surviving on a maximum of five hours of sleep a day… and now my time was up and I had absolutely no way of preventing what was about to happen.

One billion spells for summoning all kinds of demons from unknown dimensions and not one would tell me how to keep an overfed little runt of a creature around for a little while longer.

Hopper had saved my life countless times over the last year. Adrian's life, too. And yet, now that I finally had the chance to return the favour, I was failing. According to Ms. Terwilliger, the callistana would simply turn back into an ordinary crystal once the year and a day was up. I didn't know how to feel about that. It seemed wrong, somehow. Hopper had never liked being banished. We rarely used that spell anymore; it was simpler and more humane to keep him around constantly.

I pulled the nearest book towards me – one of many ancient, musty tomes on the history of demonic summoning spells that I'd brought from a rare books dealer. Right now, Adrian's living room looked less like the apartment of a struggling art student and more like a second-hand bookshop specialising in books on the arcane.

Hopper sniffed the book curiously and I spared a moment in-between flicking through the pages to let him nibble on my fingers. The little demon was quieter than usual this morning. It was like he knew what was about to happen. The very thought made me pull my hand back and turn the pages even faster.

"Sage?" I glanced up. Adrian stood in the doorway wearing just his boxers. He had dark rings around his eyes and I knew he'd hardly slept at all last night.

"Can you put the kettle on?" I asked him, already turning back to the thick tome in my hands.

He didn't move. "You didn't come to bed last night."

"I wasn't tired."

"You _look_ tired."

"Adrian, I don't have time for this. I need to concentrate," I snapped. I slammed the book shut in frustration, sending dust flying in all directions. Hopper flopped over and sneezed and it was so cute it made me want to cry.

I felt my face crumple. This was stupid. I was wasting my time searching for a spell that didn't exist, and for what? Just a stupid, squeaky, spoilt demon which would probably just go back to its own dimension once its allotted time was up. But what if he didn't? None of my books could tell me whether a callistana died or simply returned to its former realm after death. What if it was the former? What if Hopper was really, truly dying?

I grabbed another book, trying to blink back my tears. The words on the cover were blurry and I swiped furiously at my eyes.

"Honey, stop." Adrian was by my side, gently tugging the book from my hands. "There's nothing you can do. Don't waste the time he has left."

"Don't say that. He is _not_ going to die," I said stubbornly.

"Sage," Adrian said, and to my astonishment, his voice cracked. I looked up at him. His eyes were red. For the first time since I'd met Adrian Ivashkov, he looked… well, awful. I'd seen him lovesick, drunk, hung-over, kidnapped, beaten, and driven to the brink of insanity. But I'd never seen him look so defeated.

I reached out to him and the next thing I knew, we were in each others' arms, clinging to each other in sheer desperation. He pressed his cheek into my neck and I could feel him shaking. I tugged him over to the couch and Hopper followed us dutifully, moving slightly slower than usual. When the little dragon reached us, I held out my palm and let him crawl onto it.

I'd never had anything similar to a pet before. I'd never understood how people could get so attached to animals. Cats and dogs seemed more like a nuisance than anything else. An expensive nuisance. But I hadn't understood that a bond between two thinking, breathing, feeling creatures could transcend species. Hopper had been there for Adrian and I throughout the defining year of our lives, during the good times and the bad times. He'd been a steady source of comfort and I couldn't imagine life without him now.

The dragon crawled from my palm up to the crook of my elbow. He tucked his spiky tail between his legs and pressed his tiny head against my arm. I let out a shaky sob and wrapped my arms around him as tightly as I could without hurting him. Adrian held me closer, supporting us both.

"We'll name our first child after him," Adrian said quietly after a few minutes of silence. "Hopper Junior. Or Hopper II."

I choked on a laugh. It seemed wrong to laugh right now, but I appreciated Adrian's attempt to lighten the mood. "Do you want our kid to be beaten up?" I teased weakly.

"Our kid will be the best-looking, most kick-ass dhampir the world has ever seen. No one will dare lay a finger on Hopper Ivashkov-Sage the Second."

"What if we have a girl?"

Adrian rested his palm on Hopper's head and the dragon let out a happy little squeak. "Why should that matter? Hopper is totally a unisex name."

I smiled and lay my cheek against his shoulder. "Let's make it his or her middle name and pray the kid never finds out and disowns us."

"Deal."

We stayed there for at least another hour. Usually, by this time in the morning, Hopper was demanding to be fed, but today, he was content just to sleep in our arms. We watched his chest rise and fall, both fighting back tears as the seconds ticked away until only a few were remaining. Until his breathing halted and the glass demon prised open his eyes one last time.

Hopper Ivashkov-Sage left this world the way he arrived; staring up at the two people he loved the most.

And then his eyes closed forever, and we were left cradling a cold, hard lump of quartz.


	7. Drabbles

**A/N: **I reblogged a drabble prompt meme on tumblr, and got enough Sydrian requests that I figured I should post them collectively here too. (One more to go, but I'm thinking of posting it separately, because it's gotten a little longer than I planned.) I promise I'll get back to posting regular oneshots afterwards! x**  
**

**Prompts:** Innocence, Are You Challenging Me?, Mirror

* * *

**Innocence**

Three missed calls and one new voicemail message. Sydney's blissful mood soured as she listened. Ms. Terwilliger wanted her to locate a contact of Alicia.

_Which wouldn't have been a problem yesterday_, Sydney thought with mortification. She poured herself a cup of coffee – her third that morning – and yawned into the mug as she listened to the message again. Her teacher wanted her to perform the spell tonight, at their usual meeting place in the desert. She'd invited Adrian along too; Sydney smiled at that, fiddling absently with the oversized men's dress shirt she wore.

She dialled Ms. Terwilliger's cell before she could talk herself out of it.

"Jackie Terwilliger," a familiar, crisp voice answered.

"Hello, Ms. Terwilliger," Sydney said, and then she paused as her embarrassment caught up with her. "I, um... I'm afraid I can't do that scrying spell for you tonight."

"Oh?" Her teacher sounded frustrated. Sydney could faintly hear cats meowing in the background. "Well, would tomorrow night work for you?"

Heat pooled in her cheeks. "Um, no. Not tomorrow. Or, um, any night, actually. Ever. You see –" Sydney yelped as the phone was tugged from her hands.

"Jackie, so good to hear from you," Adrian said smoothly. He grinned down at Sydney, apparently unconcerned by the glare she gave him. "Terribly sorry, but whatever secret witchy project you have planned for my girl can wait. It's her weekend off and I'm not giving her back until Monday morning at the earliest." He snapped the phone shut without waiting for a reply.

Sydney groaned and buried her face in the sofa. _Monday morning at the earliest_. Well, if Ms. Terwilliger hadn't figured it out from her stammering excuses, she surely understood now. She turned to give Adrian a piece of her mind, but without another word he scooped her up, half-empty coffee mug and all, and carried her back the way they'd come.

_Well_, she reasoned to herself as she curled her arms around his neck. _It can wait. At least until Monday morning_.

* * *

**Are You Challenging Me?**

"This is going to be a nightmare," I groaned.

Adrian rubbed my shoulders. "Not necessarily. I'll have to meet the in-laws eventually. Do you think I should introduce myself as the father of your illicit demon child or the future Mr. Sage?"

We were in Adrian's living room and I sat in-between his legs, on the ugly threadbare sofa I'd grown to love. It smelled of clove cigarettes and it didn't match anything else in the apartment, but it was also small for a two-seater; small enough that I needn't make any excuses for my tendency to curl up as close to Adrian as I could when we were alone. Not that he seemed to mind.

I leaned my head back on his chest. "You are _not_ meeting him. He'll be meeting us at Clarence's tomorrow and you are going to stay far, far away." My father was stopping by, and as much as I'd love to have Adrian there for support, I couldn't risk my father noticing anything between us. And I was more than a little nervous of what he and Adrian might say to each other.

"You met my father," Adrian reminded me.

"Remember how well that turned out?"

He pressed a kiss to the back of my neck. "I remember you sticking up for me. Let me be there for you. Just in case."

I shook my head. "You can't. He already suspects I'm not as indoctrinated as he'd like. A commendation from a vampire would mean nothing to him. No – it would mean worse than nothing. He'd be even more suspicious of my loyalty."

"I could kick his ass with a few Wolfe moves and then blame it on the whole crazy-spirit-user persona. He never has to know it's about you."

I snorted. "Yes, that's a great way to introduce yourself to my father."

Adrian grinned and wrapped his arms around me. "I just want you to be happier," he said. "If throwing punches at your father and making a fool out of myself would make you happy, then that's what I'll do."

"I don't want you to hit him," I said sternly. "No matter what he says."

"Can I at least intimidate him?" Adrian grinned, revealing his sharp, white canines. "How much do you want to bet that I could scare him away within ten minutes of his arrival?"

I shook my head. "You wouldn't dare."

"Is that a challenge, Sage?" Adrian's grin transformed into a dangerously attractive smirk.

I pursed my lips. On the one hand, Adrian's presence there could be disastrous; my father was almost certain to make some comment on my weight or my attire, and I wasn't sure that Adrian could behave himself, no matter what he said. On the other hand, I'd seen Adrian at _his_ lowest, with his own father. And I did desperately want his support.

"Twenty dollars," I said finally. "I bet you twenty dollars that you won't be able to scare him off before he makes some insulting remark towards me."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to bet against you for _money_." He turned me to face him and tugged me closer. "I can think of much better things to bet on." His eyes lingered on my lips.

My heart thudded in my chest. "I'm sure we can work out an alternative prize if you win," I said recklessly.

Adrian bent to press his lips to my ear. "You're on," he said in a voice that made me shiver, and as he pulled back his eyes met mine with a look of such intensity that part of me wished he'd already won.

* * *

**Mirror**

Adrian found his pregnant wife in their bedroom, dressed only in her underwear, silently appraising her body's new curves in the full length mirror. She leaned into him when he placed his hands on her hips and bent down to kiss her shoulder, but her stubborn frown remained.

"You look gorgeous today," he told her truthfully.

"You mean fatter," she grumbled. "Soon I'll look like a whale." Her words were light, but he sensed the genuine insecurity lying just beneath the surface. He knew only too well that old insecurities were hard to shake.

"Let me show you how beautiful you are," he whispered. Sydney watched the mirror with half-lidded eyes as his hands drew circles across her skin and his lips marked her neck. When one hand curled protectively over her stomach and the other dipped lower she cried out softly, eyes fluttering shut as her head flopped back to rest on his shoulder.

"Uh-uh. Eyes front," Adrian teased, stilling his hand. "You don't want to miss the main event."

Sydney reached back, grinning when her hand made contact and her husband let out a low groan.

The mirror was quickly forgotten.


	8. Dracarys

A/N: This one is dedicated to all of our girl Sydney 'Khaleesi' Sage's supporters on tumblr. If you don't watch _Game of Thrones_, I'm sorry, but you might not follow some of the references in this one. Since _Game of Thrones_ has been airing since 2011 and the _Bloodlines_ series is set in 2008, let's assume that this oneshot is set in a future in which Sydney and Adrian have defeated Alicia/the Alchemists, somehow found a way to keep Hopper alive for a few more years, and are now together and happy.

* * *

**Dracarys**

"Say it again," Adrian commands.

"I feel silly," I protest.

"Trust me, you look far from silly."

We're perched on the edge of our couch, leaning forward. I'm almost nose-to-nose with the little callistana curled up on the coffee table opposite.

"Hopper," I say in what I know is a terrible impression of a High Valyrian accent, "_Dracarys_."

The little dragon blinks up at me. His eyes are wide with confusion.

"_Dracarys_," I command again. Hopper curls his tiny claws and lets out a little squeak.

Adrian falls back onto the couch, laughing. Grinning, I settle back into his side.

"I guess I'm probably not going to be able to raise an army with this little guy by my side any time soon," I quip.

"You don't need Hopper to start breathing fire," Adrian says. "Dragon or no dragon, people would follow you anywhere."

I shove him good-naturedly. "Try telling the Alchemists that." Although some members of the group I'd once been part of had seen the benefits of friendlier associations with Moroi, many more still were spreading a twisted version of my story as a preventative lesson to others who might try the same. Don't step out of line, or big bad vampires like Adrian Ivashkov will get to you. We laughed about it most days, but it still frustrated me when I met scared young Alchemists who could hardly meet my eyes.

"Never mind the Alchemists," Adrian says. He brushes my hair back and kisses my forehead. "_I'll_ follow you anywhere."

"You'd better." I lower my voice a bit. "Or I shall show you no mercy," I say in my best English accent. Adrian's eyes seem to glaze over.

"Fuck, that's hot," he says, dreamily.

I raise my eyebrows. "Seriously? You never told me you had a thing for Daenerys."

He shrugs. "Yeah, she's pretty much the only reason why I watch the show."

I gape, not fully comprehending his words. We've watched _Game of Thrones_ together since it first aired. He brought me all the books and DVDs. He's a casual fan. At least, I thought I was.

Adrian doesn't seem to pick up on my stunned silence. "Hey, you should be Daenerys for Hallowe'en this year. I'll go as that guy with the hair and we'll incorporate Hopper into our costumes. It'll be brilliant."

"What do you mean, she's the only reason you watch the show?" I demand, refusing to be distracted by his Hallowe'en plans and vague character description. "What about the incredible detail? The complex world-building, the socio-political commentary, the historical influences!"

He waves a hand dismissively. "That's all your kind of thing. I'm just interested in Daenerys' scenes."

"I can't believe this," I say. I'm absolutely floored. "You're telling me that you don't even care about any other character on the show? Not even any of the other women?"

"What can I say?" Adrian grins so widely that his fangs are exposed. "I have a very specific type."

"What, you're suddenly exclusively into blondes?" I grumble. "Last time I checked, your 'type' is any pretty girl between the ages of twenty and thirty." I'm being mean, I know – it doesn't really bother me when he turns on the Ivashkov charm around other girls. I know that he'd never even consider straying. But it's late and I'm tired and we've sat through three whole seasons of this show together, and yet I've just found out that he doesn't really care about any of the wonderfully intricate characters and plot details that have consumed my every spare thought for the past few years. I'd thought that this show was something we had in common.

His grin vanishes and he sits back, eyes stony. "You're mad because I think some random girl on a TV show is hot?"

"Daenerys Targaryen is _not_ some random girl!" I say, my voice rising.

"Right," Adrian nods. "She's a smoking hot girl."

"Arrgh!" I stand up and instantly start pacing to release some of my frustration. "I can't believe this. Why did you spend all those hours watching the show if you don't even care about most of the characters?"

He shrugs. "You care."

My bubble of anger deflates a bit. I throw myself back down onto the couch beside him and cross my arms stiffly. "You sat through three seasons of a show you didn't like for me?" I ask quietly.

"No," he says bluntly. "I really _do_ like the Daenerys scenes."

I make an angry sound in my throat, but before I can storm off, he's moved closer to me and slung an arm around my shoulders.

"You want to give me a chance to explain why I like Daenerys so much?" he asks, a little exasperatedly.

"Because she's a badass, gorgeous blonde?" I guess, trying to put as much venom as possible into the words he'd probably use to describe her.

Adrian just laughs. "Yeah, she's a badass, gorgeous blonde. But she didn't start out so badass – she taught herself how to lead. Her people love her because she showed them mercy and kindness. Her enemies fear her because she's absolutely ruthless towards anyone who crosses those she loves." He stops there, and nudges me. "Remind you of anyone?"

"I'm not ruthless," I protest.

"Tell that to the Alchemists. Or Alicia. Or that one girl who bullied Jill way back when we first moved to Palm Springs – what was her name?"

"Laurel." I smile and the tight bubble in my chest disappears. "Okay, I see your point."

Adrian squeezes my shoulder and continues. "She's not as forgiving as you are. But she's brave, so brave. She didn't have such a great childhood, but she's carving a new path for herself now and she's not going to let anything or anyone stand in her way. She's calculating. She's clever. She takes risks only when she can see that they're worth taking. She's passionate. She's maternal. She's the mother of _dragons_, for Christ's sake." He shakes his head, ruefully. "How much more obvious do I have to be?"

Hopper lets out another well-timed squeak. I can't help but smile when I turn to see him chewing on the corner of our season one DVD box.

"Daenerys isn't _that_ wonderful though." I say, even though I'm flattered by the comparison. "She's obsessed with revenge, her storyline essentially represents everything that's wrong with the white saviour trope, and her relationship with Khal Drogo was deeply problematic –"

Adrian laughs. "You've told me all of this before. I do actually listen when you talk about the show, you know." He tugs me closer. "You make it interesting. And it's ten times more confusing when I try to watch it by myself."

I sigh and curl into his side again. "I suppose I can't fault you for liking her," I say. "It's not like I don't go slightly weak at the knees whenever Jon Snow or Robb Stark are on-screen."

Adrian freezes. "Both of them?" he demands.

"I happen to like pale, pretty guys," I tease.

"I'm not pretty," he says, affronted. "And they... they have stupid hair!"

I cough deliberately. "Says the guy who always spends at least half an hour perfecting that deliberately messy style every morning."

Adrian makes a low growling noise in his throat. "You're just messing with me," he accuses.

I feign innocence. "I wouldn't dare."

He rolls me onto my back. "Take it back," he demands.

I channel Daenerys again as I pull him closer. "Never," I say in the throatiest English accent I can muster.

He groans and his lips find my neck as he presses me down into the couch. Words become pretty meaningless after that.


End file.
